Is Utah's season already doomed?

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SALT LAKE CITY — In its third year in the Pac-12, the University of Utah has yet to find a signature win against a quality conference opponent. And with the Pac-12 making significant improvements in talent, it begs the question whether Utah's season is already doomed.

Utah has already lost to conference opponents Oregon State and the No. 12 UCLA Bruins in close, down-to-the-wire games. And while Utah can take comfort in knowing they were competitive in both games and were still in them in the final seconds of play, the losses don't sting any less.

Unfortunately for Utah, the only thing that anyone will remember at the end of the season is that the team couldn't win in big games.

On Thursday night, sophomore quarterback Travis Wilson threw six interceptions in their loss to the Bruins, but the Utes rallied back and fought hard, clawing their way back into the game. Even when it appeared as though Utah was out of the game late in the fourth quarter the team fought back and recovered an onside kick for a chance to tie up the game.

"I'm proud of the way our guys played. We played exceptionally hard. We didn't play well the entire time, obviously, but we hung in there," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. "It was amazing that we had a chance at the end, but came up short."

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The season is nearly to the halfway point, and it's difficult to see where Utah gets its next win. With seven games left in the season, Utah is scheduled to play at least two more ranked opponents — their next challenge coming Saturday against No. 5 Stanford. The remaining five opponents are no gimmes either — Arizona, USC, Arizona State, Washington State and Colorado are very capable of beating the Utes.

"You have to handle (losing two winnable games). We have to handle it. We just have to keep working," Whittingham said after Thursday's game. "Our guys are willing. They have a great work ethic. It is frustrating, but we have to find a way to make a couple more plays. If we can do that, we can find a way to win."

While the schedule only gets more difficult, the season is not over yet. Utah has the offense to compete with almost every team in the conference, even with interceptions thrown in games.

Travis Wilson is still a young quarterback and has room to improve. At least four of the six interceptions on Thursday were arguably on the receivers and not on Wilson. However, Wilson is willing to take ownership of the team and battle on despite the mistakes on offense, which is what Utah needs to succeed — their leader is taking on the responsibility of the team's effort and is moving forward.

"We just had too many mental errors. Ultimately they're my fault," Wilson said. "Some (passes) were deflected, some were off wide receivers' hands; it happens, you've got to just keep playing."

Wilson may have contributed to the team's so-called failures closing out recent Pac-12 games, but he's also been a breath of fresh air and has been a difference maker for the Utes, who likely would have never had a chance against Oregon State or UCLA with former quarterbacks Jon Hays and Jordan Wynn.

"We're a great team, as you can see," receiver Dres Anderson said. "When you're minus five in the turnover margin and still have a chance to win at the end of the game, it just says something about your team. We've got heart, but we've just got to find ways to make plays at the end of the game."

If Utah can clean up its mistakes and inconsistencies on offense, Utah has a viable, albeit difficult, chance against many of the remaining teams they play. Oregon and Stanford will be the stiffest challenge, but Utah's season is far from over.

Utah has battled back from adversity thus far this season, so it's seemingly possible that losses won't keep them down. But they've got to get a win quickly to keep pushing forward and to not allow for defeat to overtake the team.